


The Brave

by AMidnightDreary



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, M/M, Sort of? - Freeform, mascara alert
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-30
Updated: 2019-03-30
Packaged: 2019-12-27 00:16:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18293030
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AMidnightDreary/pseuds/AMidnightDreary
Summary: Loki dies. Tony greets him.





	The Brave

**Author's Note:**

> So, I guess this could be seen as a sequel to my story [all my light](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17715068), but since it's not the _proper_ sequel, I'm not making this the second part of the series. Just so you guys know that there's "another" second part to that story in the works. ^.^
> 
> I hope you like it!

Loki was still grinning when the pain started blooming in his back. He didn't even notice it at first, or maybe he dismissed it as a minor injury, but it certainly didn't keep him from moving. He still spun around and threw the daggers that had already been in his hands, finishing off a few enemies at once. But as soon as he lost the grip on the knives, he realized that his vision was blurring and that the pain was spreading out from his back into his chest and stomach, and that it was _not_ a minor injury. He could taste his own blood on his tongue.

Loki blinked and tried to stay on his feet, even though the world was spinning around him. He felt as if his insides had been ripped right out of him, and judging by the blood that ran over his fingers when he touched them to his belly, that might have been true. His fingers curled around something hard and sharp, metal that had been warmed up and made slippery by his blood. There was a spear stuck in his body, Loki realized, somebody had impaled him, _again._

The edges of his thoughts were fuzzy. He tried to call upon his magic, but didn't manage to hold onto it. It just slipped away from him again. The exertion almost made him vomit and the borders of everything he saw turned black, and there was more and more blood dripping out of him -

“Brother?”

Oh.

“Thor, I…”, Loki began, but his voice was too quiet and it was so _tiring_ to speak. He fell, but somebody caught him, and the spear was still in him, and it hurt so much that his whole body felt numb and cold. He lifted his heavy head, saw that his fingers were still gripping the wretched spear. What little skin he could see under blood and dirt was blue, and that was never a good sign.

Thor was shouting at somebody, Loki thought _he_ might be the one who was being shouted at, but he couldn't understand his brother over the rushing in his ears. Thor's arms around him were too tight and close, they hadn't been this close in centuries. Loki finally managed to make his magic do something, anything, and it hurt even more when it tried to knit him back together from the inside out. But it could only do so much in so little time, it needed _more_ time, and Loki didn't have more time.

Thor had stopped screaming. He was talking to Loki now, quietly, and that was better. Loki couldn't breathe anymore. He realized that Thor was praying -

“... bid you take your place in the halls of -”

 _Valhalla_ , Loki thought, tried to say, couldn't speak, _Valhalla, where thine enemies -_

“Valhalla, where thine enemies have been vanquished, where the brave…”

Thor stopped, and his grip tightened even more. _What now?_ , Thor had whispered to him when they were children, _I forgot what comes after that_ , and Loki had scoffed and recited, _Where the brave shall live forever, Thor, it's not that hard._

“Where the brave shall live forever”, Thor said. His voice was trembling. “Nor shall we mourn, but rejoice…”

 _For those who have died_...

“For those who have died…”

_… the glorious death._

“... the glorious death.”

  
  
  


There was a hand running through his hair, playing with the strands. Nails gently scraping over his scalp. Loki wanted to purr, to press into the touch, because it was the first warmth he felt in what might have been centuries. The second hand that strokes along his jaw and then down to his chest came unexpected, but it made Loki shiver in the best of ways. He wasn't cold anymore, and he wasn't hurting anymore, either. The blood on his hands was gone.

When Loki opened his eyes, a pair of brown ones met his gaze. They were crinkling with a smile Loki had not seen in two thousand years.

“It took you _ages_ to wake up”, Anthony whispered, and Loki sat up so fast that Anthony almost fell out of the bed they were lying in. “Hey, what the -”

“Anthony”, Loki interrupted. His hands were already on his lover's body, grasping the shirt he was wearing, digging into flesh, stroking over warm, soft, _alive_ skin. There was the memory of a heartbeat in that chest. “ _Anthony_ , you…”

“Yes, I'm here", Anthony said, smiling again. They were both kneeling on the bed now and Anthony shuffled a bit closer, his hands wandering up Loki's chest until they eventually cupped his face. “And you're here, too. Hi.”

Loki stared at him. He was shocked and confused, but both feelings were already fading, because this was _right_. It felt right. Anthony was here, and Loki was here, too. There was little else he needed to know.

“You were dead”, Loki said, still a bit suspicious.

“I _am_ dead _._ ”

Loki blinked. His hands were still grasping Anthony's shirt. “So I…”

“Yes.” Anthony's expression turned soft. He smoothed a few locks of hair out of Loki's face. “You fought really fucking well, as always. I'm proud of you. Welcome to Valhalla.”

Loki sat back on his heels. “Valhalla”, he echoed. “By the Nine.”

Anthony laughed. He seemed giddy, suddenly, bumping their noses before touching his forehead against Loki's. “Don't get me wrong, love”, he said, and Loki hadn't heard _that_ in so long that it made him dizzy, “I'm sorry you died. But I'm also happy you're finally _here_ , I - I waited eternities for you.”

“I know”, Loki breathed. “I mean, I _hoped_ -”

Anthony kissed him, and Loki forgot what he had wanted to say. His breath hitched and his fingers dug into Anthony's sides so hard that it must have hurt, but Anthony just pressed closer against him. They kissed, and Loki realized that he had forgotten what kissing Anthony felt like. He would never forget that again.

They both were breathless when they parted, and Anthony's lips looked so red and lovely that Loki had to continue kissing him. He could feel Anthony's smile and returned it, pulling back only far enough to look at Anthony.

“Are you really here?”, Loki whispered, staring into Anthony's still smiling eyes. “Or are you just… _my_ … Valhalla?”

“Both”, Anthony said, and kissed him again.

  



End file.
